I use Perl to call external tools to create a backup tree and encrypt it.
These are the actual commands to create the tree and encrypt.

cd /var/lib

/usr/bin/zip -9 -y -q -r /tmp/20010924_mysql.zip mysql

/usr/bin/gpg --output /var/backup/20010924_mysql.zip.gpg --recipient m
+e@myself.com --encrypt /tmp/20010924_mysql.zip

rm /tmp/20010924_mysql.zip
[download]

Use perl to calc the required commands and timestamped filename, for the current host, and then system() them. Note full paths for all root commands!

Regards Jeff